


Testing the water

by quandong_crumble



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Less than 1000 words, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-19
Updated: 2014-06-19
Packaged: 2018-02-05 08:11:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1811434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quandong_crumble/pseuds/quandong_crumble
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Sam makes the first move, and it shocks both of them, but Bucky looks so peaceful and happy for once, with a curl of a smile hiding in the corner of his mouth.</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Testing the water

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Qouinette](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Qouinette/gifts).



> This was initially written as an askbox fic for [Dondy](http://qouinette-not.tumblr.com) on tumblr. Because she then made some absolutely gorgeous art for it, I've expanded the beginning a little and tidied it up to post here.
> 
>  
> 
> [Gorgeous art by Dondy](http://qouinette-not.tumblr.com/post/89078288051/wooooooohhhh-guess-who-tripped-on-buckysam-its)

When they bring Bucky in from the cold, almost five months after Washington, it takes Sam about fifteen minutes to realise that what James Barnes has been through is going to require a lot more than an ex-parajumper with a certificate in group therapy. It’s hard taking the step back when he’s been so involved in finding the man, but it’s worth it, too. It gives Sam a chance to breathe, to exist outside of Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff, and to try and reconnect with the life he left behind the morning he opened the door to those two. It gives Steve time to carve a new niche for himself, too, though he visits frequently. Natasha all but disappears, but she warned them about that, and Sam doesn’t worry too much so long as he gets a text message now and then.

He visits Bucky at Steve’s apartment once or twice, sees the tense line of his shoulders and the lost look in his eyes, and instead of suggesting the VA, Sam winds up giving Bucky his address and tells him to come over any time. A week later Bucky shows up on his doorstep with two pizzas and a change of clothes in a paper bag and says, “I just need a few hours where I don’t have to be _him_.”

It only takes a few weeks of Bucky’s regular visits for Sam to realise he’s created a safe space for him, somewhere there’s no pressure to try and remember his past life, no expectations of opening up his soul to a stranger. Sam thinks it helps that, besides the battle in Washington, they have no history together. Bucky visits around once a week, and slowly the spare room becomes his, and Sam breaks out the checkers board and a deck of cards. They spend hours just sitting, sometimes, and Bucky makes sure to sit on Sam’s left, to keep the metal arm away from him while they watch something quiet and mindless on the TV.

Sam makes the first move, and it shocks both of them, but Bucky looks so peaceful and happy for once, with a curl of a smile hiding in the corner of his mouth. Sam leans gently against Bucky’s side, until they’re pressed together from knee to shoulder, and he’s surprised when Bucky leans toward him, too. And then when Sam nudges his hand against Bucky’s, Bucky twists and lets him take it. Sam feels like a schoolboy again, sitting there on the couch holding hands with his crush while the TV warbles about travelling to Wakanda in the background.

They make it through another episode of whatever inoffensive comedy they’re watching, Sam’s not really paying attention anymore. He’s too focussed on the warmth of Bucky’s hand in his, the callouses he can feel on the insides of his fingers. He turns to ask Bucky if he wants a drink or something and finds the other man already facing him, a little quirk in the corner of his mouth like he can’t stop smiling, and Sam leans forward and kisses him.

It’s a brief brush of lips on lips, and Sam feels his goatee scrape on Bucky’s stubble before he pulls away. 

“You call that a kiss?” Bucky asks. For just a moment Sam can see a little bit of the man he used to be peaking through the new quiet facade.

“Just testing the water,” Sam says.

Bucky licks his lips. “Water’s fine, Wilson. Kiss me proper.”


End file.
